In an LCD, a numeral is generally shown by a combination of seven segments as shown in FIG. 7. The seven-segment display can express numerical characters from zero to nine. A fourteen-segment display shown in FIG. 8 can further indicate alphabets.
In a dot matrix display, each character is indicated on a matrix comprising pixels (segments) arranged in five rows by seven columns, totaling in 35 pixels, as shown in FIG. 9. Since numerous pixels are provided, the dot matrix display is able to indicate not only numerals and alphabets, but also a graphic image, such as a frequency response graph in a graphic equalizer. Hence, the dot matrix display is advantageous in that a large quantity of information can be shown on the display having a limited area.
However, a large number of pixels must be provided when indicating eight to nine characters. Moreover, in order to show a graph with the dots, a display requires a great deal of pixels, for example 200 rows by 16 columns. Namely, as much as 3200 pixels are required. As shown in FIG. 10, in order to drive an LCD having a large number of pixels, at least three driver ICs 2 are necessary. Therefore, the driving circuit is complicated in construction, and hence the manufacturing cost is increased.